Alexandr Kolobnev confirms he’ll receive a fine and warning rather than a suspension in doping case

Alexandr Kolobnev has today confirmed that the Russian Cycling Federation has decided that he will not serve a suspension as a result of his positive test at this year’s Tour de France. The Katusha rider issued a statement communicating the ruling of the federation’s anti-doping commission, which concluded that he did commit a violation under UCI anti-doping rules 21.1, namely the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in a rider's bodily specimen.

The federation’s ruling laid out the penalties it had imposed. “Mr Alexander Kolobnev is sanctioned with a reprimand and no period of ineligibility is imposed,” it stated. “The results of Mr. Alexander Kolobnev obtained at the Tour-de-France stage of 6 July 2011 shall be disqualified. Mr. Alexander Kolobnev is additionally sanctioned with a fine in amount of 1,500.”

The latter amount is understood to be in Swiss francs.

Kolobnev was the sole rider to fail a test at this year’s Tour de France. He was 69th overall at the time the news of the test emerged, and voluntarily left the race as a result. The Russian tested positive for Hydrochlorothiazide, which is listed on WADA’s prohibited list under category S5, pertaining to diuretics and other masking agents. It is prohibited at all times, both during competition and in training.

As a specified substance, it carries a possible sanction ranging from a warning to two years.

“In light of this situation and waiting for what the UCI will determine about my case, it’s still too early to make any judgments,” said Kolobnev. “I hope it can be resolved with the earliest convenience and in the best way possible.”

UCI press officer Enrico Carpani told VeloNation that the governing body had just received the decision, and that it would decide in time whether or not to appeal what is essentially a minimal sanction. “The UCI now has fifteen days to request the Russian federation to send us the file on the case,” he said. “Once we have the complete file to hand, we will have one month to decide what to do. At this point in time it is impossible to say what will happen; when we have the information, we will study it carefully and then make a decision.”

This process will almost certainly extend past the point when UCI ProTeam licences and registrations are allocated to teams.

Contacted yesterday this week by VeloNation, WADA stated that it could not give a reaction to reports that Kolobnev would receive a fine and warning rather than a suspension. “The results management process in the case of Alexandr Kolobnev is still ongoing,” stated its press officer Terence O’Rorke. “In order to protect the integrity of that process, WADA must refrain from making any comment until it has been fully completed.”